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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27165493">People Watching... It's Not Stalking</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Place2b/pseuds/Place2b'>Place2b</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Men's Hockey RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops &amp; Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Jason and Nick are not hockey players, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:41:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,584</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27165493</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Place2b/pseuds/Place2b</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason has been given an assignment to people watch and write down anything that interests him. He's hesitant until two guys walk into the Café, this gets him thinking about what he wants versus what he sees.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Denis Gurianov/Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson/Nick Caamano</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>People Watching... It's Not Stalking</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey guys!!! I hope y'all like this!!<br/>Thank you to Kori in the discord chat for helping me figure out an ending!</p>
<p>Also the italics is Jason's journals that he writes for his class, everything not italicized is in the actual world<br/>Follow me on tumblr for some more hockey boys! @sparklygemsuniverse</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Jason sat at the little table in the back of the café, his laptop open with a blank dot in front of him. His professor assigned his creative writing class to go out and people watch for a month. He was hesitant to do this, it was really borderline stalking in his mind. But he was falling behind in the class so he couldn’t afford to not do good on this assignment. So here he is on Saturday morning with a fresh cup of coffee just waiting for something interesting to happen.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He'd been in the café for a few minutes and Jason was getting bored, so far all he wrote down was the woman and her young daughter who snuck away and somehow convinced a worker to give her a cookie. He was close to giving up and trying a different location when two guys walked in.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They were really tall, one guy had long blonde hair while the other had short brown hair. He didn’t know why these guys drew his attention but he decided that he'd focus on them to see what happened, he opened his doc back up and began to write.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Two men came into the café, the blonde one and the other (brunette, nose??), they are standing close together but aren’t talking that much. They're ordering now and both get out their wallets, the brunette man tries to hand his card to the waiter but blondie grabs it at the last second to stop him. Brunette laughs and accepts that he isn’t paying. Are they on a date? Just friends? It's hard to say with that interaction but then again I act that way with my own friends. They get their food and head over to wait for their drinks. They get them and head out, as they walk past my table I can kinda hear them talking but it’s too low to understand. But I can hear that they both have accents, but again they're talking too low to understand, I’ll come back on Monday maybe they’ll be back.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Satisfied with what he had, Jason closed his laptop and headed back to his dorm, maybe he could convince Nick to watch some movies tonight before he inevitably passes out.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The next Monday Jason is back at the café, this time he decided to get a tea just because it was getting a bit late and he didn’t want to be up all night. He had a text from Nick telling him that he’d be out late and to pick up some stuff before heading home. While he was writing out a reply he heard the bell jingle, he looked up and saw the two guys from Saturday back at the café. They seemed more subdued today than they did the other time so he opened his doc and began writing.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Blondie and the brunette are back today. I got a table a bit closer to where the drinks are called so maybe I’ll get to hear something interesting. They don’t seem as happy today, the brunette isn’t smiling as much as he was last time. They've ordered their drinks and before blondie and get his wallet out brunette puts his hand on blondie's shoulder and takes his card out to pay this time. Maybe they switch who's paying, that's something I wish my friends would do (looking at you nick). They head over to the drink counter. Brunette is talking to blondie, it seems like he’s trying to cheer him up. Saying things like he did good, it's not his fault, that he tried hard. It's kinda sweet, makes me think that they could be more than friends, he does have a more distinct accent, sounds russian maybe??? The barista calls their orders out. The blondie seems happier than when he came in, so that's good, russian man grabs his drink and puts his hand on blondies back, guiding him out of the building.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason is looking out the door where the guys just left when his phone goes off, it’s a text from Nick telling him that his plans got cancelled and that they're going to have a NHL tournament when he gets back. Jason wouldn’t say he’s the best at chel but he won’t back down from a challenge, he packs up and heads back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jason is willing to admit that he is getting a little bit invested in the lives of these two guys that he's never met. But when his professor is calling on people to share their journals it seems like others are having similar thoughts on relationships with those they're watching. It seems that only himself and another girl are having repeat people so he doesn’t feel as weird about it as he did when he first started this whole thing. The professor tells them to keep it up and start going to their spots more frequently if possible. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>So after class he heads back to the café. The café is a bit busier today but not too crowded. Luckily the table by the drinks is open again so he sets up shop there. He writes a little on the businessman who spilled his drink a bit on himself but doesn't seem to notice and about the grandma who's sitting by herself with some yarn in her bag knitting. He's thinking about talking to her when the same two guys walk in. this time they're with another blonde guy, he's around the same height but looks a bit older than the other two. He's intrigued and starts writing</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Blondie and the russian are back, this time they brought a friend. He's older but not old enough to be a father of blondie so I don't quite know their relationship. Same as before blondie and russian order and pay together while leaving the other to pay for himself. Seems a bit unfair to me but IDK their relationship sooo… any way the older blond gets some food while the others go to the drink counter. I can hear blondie complaining about being sore while the russian just laughs at him. Reminds me of Nick when he laughed at me when I got hit in the face with a frisbee the other week. Older blondie joins the two and I can hear him telling blondie to stop complaining, russian throws his arm around blondies shoulder shaking him a little while blondie just smiles at the floor. From my table it's hard to tell but it looks like blondie is blushing, maybe he has a crush? The older guy just rolls his eyes and herds them out the door. From my view it looks like the russian never took his arm off blondies shoulders, I can't see them walking but I imagine that blondie never shook the arm off either.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It’s been a few days since Jason has seen blondie and the russian and he’s kinda disappointed, he’s invested now, he needs to figure out if they're together or not, he’s rooting for these guys that he’s never met before. He was telling Nick about it yesterday. But Nick just laughed at him and said he was projecting cause Jason was lonely. Which, true, but that's not the point. He kinda wanted to record their interactions to prove that he wasn’t making things up and projecting but that would take the whole stalking thing to a whole nother level that he didn't want to touch. So he just pouted and turned away from Nick who just laughed and pulled him into a hug, Jason let himself be hugged and turned on Netflix, they laid there until they both fell asleep.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Waking up the next morning was kinda awkward but he did sleep great wrapped up in Nick's arms, he went back to his side and started getting dressed for the day, he was going back to the café just in case the men were back. As he was leaving he looked back and saw Nick was awake, watching him with a small smile, Jason blushed before saying goodbye and rushed out</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s been a few days but shockingly blondie and russian are back!! They're in high spirits today, blondie keeps pushing at russian a little bit trying to get a rise out of him it looks like. They order and as usual head over to the drinks. This time though russian leans down to blondies ear and starts whispering something, blondie turns bright red before shoving him away. It's sweet to see them happy today. Surprisingly when they get their drinks they don't leave, maybe they ordered something for the older guy who was with them before. I wrote that and finally looked back up to see the barista handing them a big bag of food I assume, they got two whole bags before they headed out. As they leave I can hear them say how ???Jamie??? (maybe the older guy??) isn’t going to be happy that they're breaking their diets, but that seems strange, they don't seem old enough to have a full time job, they really look like college kids but a bit fancier, I have seen blondie come in wearing some weird clothes so I doubt their professionals anywhere. But I was taught to never judge a book by it’s cover so who knows.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jason felt bad, he missed a whole week and a half because he somehow got sick, he was stuck in bed the whole time and couldn't go out. He’d ask Nick once if he could go to the café for him but he didn't want to get laughed at when he was sick. Instead he made Nick bring him food and Gatorade, and if he asked Nick to hold him a little bit… no one has to know.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He was a bit sad though, cause once he started feeling good enough to go out again he only had one week left of the observation project, he wanted to see more of how the guys relationship played out. Maybe get a resolution somehow but he doubted that would happen in the few days he had left. So he headed down to the café for a finale sit down and observation.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I haven't been here in a few days because I got sick but lucky for me my roommate Nick nursed me back to health. I sit at a different table this time, next to the big window by the door, this way I can see who comes in and out. Blondie and russian came in a few minutes ago and like normal they argued over who got to pay. It’s cute, watching them act around each other, you don't see that kind of affection in everyday life. This time instead of grabbing their drinks and leaving like they normally do, they sat down at a table close by. Maybe they're not doing anything today and that's why. From where I'm sitting I can see their feet tangled together while blondie rests his chin on his hand, looking at russian with the softest look I’ve seen in my life, I might get cavities from watching. The russian looks at his phone (I’m guessing) and tells blondie something, idk what they're too far away. They stand up to leave and blondie reaches out and links their pinkies together. (God that's adorable I can’t) </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Since this is my last journal I am satisfied to say that blondie and russian are together, I’ve never seen pals hold hands (although I did hold Nicks hand when I was drunk that one time…) anyway I am satisfied with my watching and feel like I’ve learned more about how people interact when they think no ones looking. Maybe I’ll do this again sometime.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>In celebration for finishing his assignment Nick somehow got tickets to the Dallas Stars game on Friday night. He was so excited it had been years since he had gone to a hockey game and he got to go with his best friend which made it even better!</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When they got to their seats Jason was stunned. They weren’t directly on the glass but they were close enough that they could see the whole stars bench. When the players came out for warm ups Jason pulled up the roster on his phone to see who was playing tonight. As he scrolled he paused for a second. He scrolled back up and stopped at a familiar face.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He stared down at his phone, the face of blondie started right back. He could be wrong but he watched blondie and russian for a whole month, he knew that face. Apparently blondie was Roope Hintz, forward for the Dallas Stars. Still in denial he scrolled down more until he found him. Again looking at another familiar face, this time it was 100% the russian man, Denis Gurianov. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He couldn’t believe it, the two men he had been watching this whole time were professional hockey players in the NHL, what are the chances. He thought about telling Nick but the game had already begun and it was time to focus on that.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>___</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When Jason got his grade back on his observations he was pleased to see he had gotten a 90% he rushed back to the dorm where Nick was and told him that they were going out to celebrate.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>They got to the bar and got their drinks, Jason's having a good time dancing and making jokes with Nick. Time flies by, before he knows it it’s 3 in the morning and Nick is trying to drag him back to the dorm. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jason realizes he’s rambling about his assignment, but he can't seem to keep his mouth shut. Nick is just laughing at him when they finally get back into the room. Nick puts him in his bed but Jason doesn’t really want him to leave. So he grabs Nick's wrist and pulls him down.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When Jason wakes up in the morning he sees that Nick is still there, sleeping soundly next to him. He doesn’t really want to get up so he lets his mind wander instead. He thinks about Roope and Denis, how in tune they were to each other. How they interacted like they were the only ones in the room. He had watched them for so long that he was surprised that they never noticed him themselves. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe Nick was right, maybe he was lonely, he wanted the closeness that the hockey players had, he wanted to go into the café with a guy and argue about who gets to pay for food and drinks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He lies in bed so long that he barely notices Nick moving, he feels his hands start to move up and down his arms lightly scratching, he looks up at Nick to see him already watching him. Jason recognizes the look Nick is giving him, it's the same one Roope had when talking to Denis at the drink counter, it's the same one that Denis had when trying to make Roope happy. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jason glances down before he feels two fingers guide his head back up, he doesn’t get a chance to say anything before he feels Nick lean in and place a soft kiss to his lips before pulling away.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Jason thinks to himself, yeah, he might be able to have what he wants. He leans back up and places his lips back on Nicks before they both pull away, smiling softly at each other.</span>
</p>
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